Crow
Crow 'is the main character of Nefarious. He is a supervillain and mechanical genius who aspires to take over the world. __TOC__ Profile Appearance Crow wears a purple and red metallic suit. He also has a matching purple helmet with two yellow headlamps. His gloves are asymmetrical, with the larger one acting as a grenade-launcher. His helmet and gloves both feature a white "X" emblem. Crow considers himself a professional villain, extending to matters of appearance, and keeps a collection of costumes and disguises if the occasion calls for them. This is seen when he swaps his helmet for a western-style cowboy hat in Rattletrack Rails. Without his helmet, Crow is shown to have medium-length, light-brown hair. Personality Crow prides himself on being a classic villain. He openly delights in being evil, and values his reputation as a bad guy. As a villain, Crow demonstrates a number of selfish qualities. He's power-hungry, wanting to expand his empire and conquer the world. He also shows a great degree of self-aggrandizement, placing statues and decor of himself throughout his empire, as well as modeling his mechs in his own image. Crow may also be much nicer than his reputation would suggest, treating both his minions and his captives quite well. However, when Scholar Ben suggests that Crow truly cares about his minions, Crow angrily derides the idea as slander. It ''is possible that Crow could grow to care enough about the princesses he's captured for it to interfere with his plans for world domination, but whether or not he does is up to the player. It can be inferred, however, that Crow may not truly ''view himself as evil. When asked whether he considers himself a villain on ''Would You Date A Super Villain?, ''his choices are limited to "No," "Deflect," and "Lie." Main Story Normal Route Crow's story begins in Macro City, with the kidnapping of Princess Mayapple. After making his way through the city and defeating the MCPD Swat Van, Crow is confronted by his arch-nemesis, Mack. However, rather than battle him, Mack breaks up with Princess Mayapple, and flies off, not even bothering with Crow - much to the villain's annoyance. Crow returns to his airship, the Sovereign, where his secretary Becky asks what his latest plan is. Crow simply says that he needs five princesses but does not elaborate, and then sets out for Insektia. There, he kidnaps Princess Apoidea, and uses his Death Pod to defeat the Insektan hero, Dash. After returning to the Sovereign, Becky confronts Crow, realizing that he's trying to power the Doom Howitzer, a device that - if powered by five princesses - can give Crow all the power he needs to take over the world. Crow then sets his sights on two warring nations: the dwarven kingdom of Winterdown and the ogre kingdom of Sukochi. In Winterdown, Crow encounters rival villain Dr. Mechano, who has also arrived to capture Princess Ariella. He defeats him and confronts the princess herself, who leaps onto Crow's back and takes him for a ride through the kingdom's cavernous depths, throwing axes at enemies along the way. Becky realizes Crow is need of aid and sends down Punch-Bot, one of Crow's boss mechs. Crow gets into Punch-Bot, and is confronted by the dwarven hero, Guryon the Righteous. Crow defeats Guryon and heads on to his next target. In Sukochi, Crow meets the ogre hero, Kaptain Man. Kaptain Man presents Crow with a deadly obstacle course known as the "Gauntlet of Man," filled with pits, platforms, and cannon fire. After Crow makes his way across, Kaptain Man agrees to open the doors to Princess Tephra's palace - but only on the condition that Crow delivers a love letter from him to his secretary, Becky, whom Kaptain Man has a crush on. Crow accepts the conditions, calling it a "dark pact," and proceeds. When he meets Princess Tephra, she overpowers him with her pure strength, and tosses him through a window. There, Crow meets Tephra's much less imposing brother, Prince Malachite. As Crow is an equal-opportunity kidnapper, he decides to kidnap Malachite instead. On the way out of Sukochi, Crow is confronted by the 8-Bit Heroes, and squares off against them in turn-based combat. After defeating them, he returns to the Sovereign. After completing Winterdown and Sukochi, Crow is informed by Becky that his Lucre reserves are running dry, and that his empire won't have enough funds to complete their current scheme if they don't get more money, fast. Crow makes a deal with Princess Apoidea, who knows the location of a massive underwater treasure - if she guides him to the treasure's location, he'll split half the treasure with her. Uncertain of whether to trust Crow, Apoidea agrees, and the two take the Death Pod out to the Heartless Abyss. Along the way, Apoidea and Crow talk and get to know each other a bit better. By the end of their journey, Apoidea remarks that - if not for Crow's villainy - she wouldn't mind being friends. Crow delivers half of the treasure to Insektia as promised, using the other half to fund his empire. Next, Crow sets his sights on the fifth and final princess he needs: Princess Farrah Day, an experimental princess created by Adept Co. Crow finds Farrah Day, who mistakenly believes Crow is a hero sent to rescue her, and accompanies him out of the lab - but not before Crow is confronted by Mack along the way. Crow finds one of the first boss mechs he ever made, which had been salvaged by Adept Co., and hops in, using it to fight and defeat Mack. After returning to the Sovereign, Crow has all five princesses he needs, and is ready to power the Doom Howitzer. However, Malachite tells Crow that he had a prior engagement - a TV appearance on the game show, ''Would You Date A Super Villain? ''Crow doesn't care, but Becky informs him that this appearance could be a good PR move for him as a villain, and so be begrudgingly agrees to appear on the show. Crow, Malachite, and Malice appear onstage as the eligible villains, and answer questions from Mayapple, Becky, and Ariella. ''(Depending on the player's choice, Crow can end up dating Becky after this show, though in either case she says dates will have to wait until later.) After Ariella is brought onstage, Malachite breaks down and confesses his love for her - committing high treason on television. This earns the attention of Princess Tephra, who sends a train packed with her troops toward Crow's Empire. Riding up beside the train in his armored car, Crow takes Princess Ariella with him, and the two ride out on Colonel Apricot to take on Tephra's train. After defeating the ogre troops, led by Raijin, Ariella destroys the train engine with her axes. After this, Becky informs Crow that no more obstacles stand in his way, and that it's time to head to his empire and power the Doom Howitzer. Crow flies the Sovereign toward his home base in Bramble Flats, but is shot out of the sky by Tephra, who wants to use the Doom Howitzer to conquer the world herself. What's more, all of the world's armies have converged on Crow's location, and he is forced to trek through his empire on foot, through the wreckage of the downed Sovereign, to get to his base and power the Doom Howitzer. Upon reaching his fortress, he finds it overtaken by the heroes, who he must refight. He once again defeats Dash and Guryon, before being confronted by Mack again, whom he quickly blasts with the death ray he unveiled back in Macro City. Finally, Crow arrives at the Doom Howitzer, where Becky has taken the five monarchs. At long last, Crow is able to turn on the device and conquer the world. Bad Ending Route If the player did not complete the requirements for the good ending, Crow will decide to power the Doom Howitzer automatically. If the player did complete the good ending requirements, but selects "Activate the device!", he'll also power the Doom Howitzer. At this point, Princess Mayapple loses faith in Crow, and Crow is confronted by Mack again - who transforms into Hyper Mack. Crow jumps into the Doom Howitzer, a massive boss mech, and begins blasting laser fire at Mack. If Mack manages to defeat Crow here, Crow will reveal that the Doom Howitzer is a multi-phase boss, and that he isn't done for. The same is true for the second phase - Crow will only lose the battle if defeated on the third phase of the fight. After defeating Mack on the fight's third phase, Crow finally bests his nemesis for good, and nothing left stands between him and world domination. With the power of the Doom Howitzer, Crow's army manages to easily conquer the world, as every nation falls under Crow's rule. The story ends with Crow laughing maniacally, finally getting what he always wanted. After the credits, Crow receives a message from Princess Mayapple, who alone managed to escape from the Doom Howitzer. She sadly says she must put her friendship with Crow on hold, and vows to become a freedom fighter, who will rescue the other monarchs and topple Crow's rule someday. Good Ending Route To get the good ending, Crow must complete several optional tasks: * In Adept Co., after rescuing Princess Farrah Day, Crow must fall into the pit immediately after Farrah's containment tube. This leads to a secret area. ** In this area, Crow must read the computer kiosk that implicates Princess Mayapple as the creator of Adept Co. ** Crow must also free the other three experimental princesses. * After Adept Co., Crow must talk to Princess Mayapple and tell her that he knows her secret. Mayapple confesses her involvement, and says that she wishes to confront Dr. Cackle, the man who began mass-producing Farrah Days. This will open the secret stage, Dr. Cackle's Lab. ** In Dr. Cackle's Lab, Crow and Mayapple befriend one of Cackle's creations, Walk Droid. Later, they fall into one of Cackle's traps, but Walk Droid presses a button to release them from it, only to be blown to pieces by Cackle seconds later. Furious, Mayapple leaps onto Cackle's ship and crashes it, grabbing him and holding him over a pit of acid. Cackle begs for his life here. In order to complete the requirements for the good ending, Crow must select the option, '''"Don't drop him!", urging Mayapple not to give in to revenge. Mayapple smiles, thanking Crow for giving her "good advice from a good friend." Crow huffs, saying they're not friends, but that he simply doesn't want any villainous competition. The two of them then return to the Sovereign. * Crow must then talk to Farrah Day aboard the Sovereign. She explains to Crow that she's running low on energy, and will soon need to siphon energy from the Sovereign itself. To alleviate this, Crow decides to take Farrah to an energy reserve deep beneath Sukochi. This will open the secret stage, Farrah's Folley. ** Crow and Farrah head out into Sukochi, fighting past enemies and obstacles until they reach the energy reserve. Farrah absorbs the energy, growing gigantic in the process, and begins talking about purging the planet with fire and destruction. But soon, she shrinks back to her original size and playful demeanor, and the two head back to the Sovereign. * With all of the above requirements completed, this time, the monarchs will plead to Crow not to activate the Doom Howitzer once he reaches the device. They reminisce over all the good times and friendships they've shared, and implore Crow not to throw all of that away by trapping them forever just to conquer the world. If Crow selects the option "On second thought..." '''at this point, he'll decide not to activate the device, making up the excuse that the giant scary face isn't ominous enough. Annoyed by Crow's lack of dedication to the plan, Becky steps up and takes control of the Doom Howitzer herself, flinging Mayapple's crystal onto Crow, crushing him and knocking off his helmet in the process. Becky then reveals that she legally filed paperwork to declare Crow's Empire a kingdom, and that since she just usurped Crow as its ruler, she's technically a princess, allowing her to power the Doom Howitzer herself. She enters the machine, and prepares to use it to take over the world. Crow explains to Mayapple that his metallic suit's shock-absorbers could create a feedback loop that would cause a giant explosion if he were dropped into the Doom Howitzer. Mayapple picks the wounded Crow up, and battles Becky herself, knocking Reaperbots into her in the first two phases of the battle. In the third phase, Becky takes to space, declaring that she'll destroy Mayapple's kingdom as a test of the Doom Howitzer's power. The other princesses temporarily escape from their crystal prisons with help from Farrah Day, and give Mayapple and Crow a boost to catch up with Becky - with Princess Apoidea grabbing the two of them and flying after her. Mayapple continues fighting Becky, doing significant damage to the Doom Howitzer and finally managing to throw Crow into the device. As he predicted, it causes a gigantic explosion, destroying the machine. Throughout the world, the princesses, heroes, and citizens celebrate the planet being saved. But Mayapple hopes Crow is still out there somewhere, saying that despite his villainy, he still came through for his friends in the end. After the credits, it is revealed that Crow and Becky both survived the explosion of the Doom Howitzer, as the two of them sit on a hillside, watching the sun rise together. Crow forgives Becky's betrayal (though he still docks her pay), and claims that next time, they'll come back with an even better plan - one that even friendship can't foil. But for now, Crow says, he could use a vacation. Powers and Abilities Skills Crow is a mechanical genius, and can create all manner of weapons, robots, and vehicles. He is also a skilled pilot, able to fly airships like the Sovereign, as well as controlling weaponized boss mechs to battle the heroes. Weapons Crow's mechanical suit comes equipped a powerful metal fist, which can damage enemies and destroy obstacles. Crow's punch can be upgraded with the following: Crow's suit also has a grenade-launcher. Crow's grenades can hit enemies from a distance. His suit can also safely absorb the impact of his own explosions, allowing him to use his own bombs to propel himself to higher places. Crow's grenade-launcher can be equipped with the following ammo: Vehicles The Sovereign Crow's airship, the Sovereign, is his primary mode of transport. It is equipped with weaponry, such as the Orbital Cannon, and also comes furnished with comfortable accommodations for Crow, his minions, and his captives. Crow uses the Sovereign to travel to different stages. Boss Mechs '''Chekhov's Death Ray A simple laser blaster that Crow planned to use against Mack in Macro City. He ends up using it against him far later, in Bramble Flats, instead. The name is a reference to "Chekhov's Gun," ''a literary trope in which an object is displayed early to foreshadow its use later. '''Death Pod' The Death Pod is a small flying machine. It is equipped with a large wrecking ball bearing Crow's face, which can be swung around to attack enemies and obstacles. The Death Pod can also be converted to a submarine for underwater use, with its wrecking ball swapped out for a large anchor. Crow uses it to battle against Dash, and later, to explore the Heartless Abyss. Punch-Bot A large robot in Crow's likeness that, true to its name, attacks with its huge fists. Crow uses Punch-Bot to do battle with Guryon the Righteous. Crow's First Mech The very first boss mech Crow ever constructed, this unnamed giant robot was eventually discarded and salvaged by Adept Co. He uses it to fight Mack. The Doom Howitzer A terrifying contraption powered by five monarchs trapped in crystals, the Doom Howitzer is a weapon powerful enough to take over the world. It has a rotatable laser turret, and the top part of the machine is detachable, which can fire huge laser blasts in all directions. In the bad ending, Crow uses the Doom Howitzer to fight Hyper Mack. In the good ending, Becky uses it to fight Princess Mayapple. Relationships Princess Mayapple Crow frequently kidnaps Princess Mayapple as part of his villainous schemes. While this technically makes them enemies, the two are very close and even friendly to one another, with Mayapple frequently inviting Crow to sporting events, go-kart races, and other casual get-togethers. Despite his status as a villain, Princess Mayapple considers Crow her friend. Crow, however, publicly denies his friendship with Becky - though it can be inferred that he does actually care about her, and that he enjoys her company. Mayapple knows Crow well enough to believe that deep down, he's a better person than he lets on. She confronts him and says that he would ultimately regret using the Doom Howitzer to conquer the world - urging him to stop by telling him that he won't find true happiness in world domination. Crow, in turn, can (depending on the player's choice) remind Mayapple that she's no villain, and that she shouldn't stoop to revenge when she threatens to kill Dr. Cackle; advice that Mayapple greatly appreciates. If certain choices are made in the dating show, Would You Date A Super Villain?, ''Crow can express some romantic interest in Mayapple. Mayapple, however, is completely uninterested, flatly saying "No" to the idea of them dating. Later, when asked by Walk Droid if she and Crow are a couple, she says that she'd rather die, but that they ''are friends. Depending on the player's choice, Crow can either abandon using the Doom Howitzer and preserve his friendship with Mayapple and the other monarchs, or toss Mayapple's friendship aside and use her to conquer the world. Princess Apoidea Crow kidnaps Princess Apoidea in Insektia. Initially, Apoidea is understandably put off by Crow - both for kidnapping her, and for asking personal questions, such as inquiring what a thorax is. After being asked by Crow to help him find a sunken treasure when his Lucre reserves run low, Apoidea flatly states that she hates him. However, Crow promises to split the treasure with her, and Apoidea - whose kingdom is suffering a financial crisis due to the plummeting honey market - warily agrees to help him. During their voyage to the Heartless Abyss, Crow and Apoidea start to talk and get to know one another a bit more. The insect princess confesses to Crow that she feels shackled by responsibility, and feels like a prisoner whether she's in her kingdom or aboard Crow's ship. Apoidea even explains to Crow what a thorax is, something he'd expressed curiosity about earlier. When they find the sunken treasure of the Heartless Abyss, Apoidea admits that treasure-hunting with Crow was actually rather fun, and that - if not for his villainy - she wouldn't mind being friends. Crow himself states that just because he plans on usurping every monarch on the planet doesn't mean that they can't still go on adventures together, but Apoidea sadly says that it ''does ''mean that a true friendship with Crow would be impossible. Crow is disappointed, but consoles himself with the giant pile of money he just plundered. Crow remains true to his word, giving Apoidea's kingdom half of the treasure - which Apoidea is pleasantly surprised by. Later, at the Doom Howitzer, Apoidea tells Crow that there are still treasures that they can hunt together, showing that she would still like to be friends with Crow after all. The player can then decide for Crow to either abandon his quest for world domination, or abandon Apoidea's friendship and activate the device. Princess Ariella Crow's first impression of Princess Ariella is rather tumultuous, as she overpowers him and takes him on an unwilling ride through the caverns of Winterdown, wounding Crow's pride in the process. Ariella also seems totally unfazed by her own kidnapping, and openly boasts about how she'll be the one controlling the Sovereign before long. Because of this, Crow initially finds Ariella to be quite irritating. However, over time Crow and Ariella discover a number of things in common. Both have an interest in advanced weaponry, and Ariella even admits she's impressed by Crow's mechanical skill, expressing an interest in commissioning weapons from him. The two manage to work together as a team in Rattletrack Rails, with Crow steering and Ariella throwing axes at their foes. Along the way, they find even more in common with each other, such as their mutual penchant for hat-wearing and train-robbery. Whether or not Crow's growing friendship with Ariella is enough for him to abandon his plot to use her as a power source for the Doom Howitzer is ultimately up to the player, however. Prince Malachite Princess Farrah Day Becky Crow's Minions S.T.A.B.I.L.E. Mack Dr. Mechano Guryon the Righteous Kaptain Man Princess Tephra 8-Bit Heroes Dr. Cackle Scholar Ben Crow's Family Crow descends from a long line of villains, whose portraits are on display at the Villain Museum. These villains who came before Crow are: * Hawk, Crow's great-great-great grandfather. * Harrier, Crow's great-great grandfather. * Vulture, Crow's great grandfather. * Condor, Crow's grandfather. * Buzzard, Crow's father. Crow expresses pride in his family's history of villainy (though he finds his great grandfather's turn to being an anti-hero "disgraceful"). Indie Assault Crow is scheduled to appear as a playable character in the fighting game Indie Assault in a future update. Trivia Placeholder Text Category:Characters Category:Villains Category:Crow's Empire Category:Humans Category:Playable Characters